Bullseye Buzz: Content Oversight, Giant Updates, Rising Losses

By Mark Eting

Bullseye Strategy Special Correspondent

What a week it’s been for digital marketing! Facebook, Google, and Pinterest all had big announcements that will likely affect brands and marketers across the globe, so let’s just dive right into it and break it all down. So without any further ado, here’s this week’s Bullseye Buzz!

Facebook’s Oversight Board Members Announced

Facebook has finally begun to get the ball rolling on an official overview board for content publishing. Between COVID19 and the coming U.S. election this fall, Zuck and Friends have announced the first members of its long-awaited Oversight Board. They’ll set the limitations on what should and should not be allowed on its platforms.

The announced board members are from various backgrounds and nations and include the former Prime Minister of Finland, a Brazilian law professor, the Senior Editor of The Jakarta Post, and others with backgrounds ranging from digital privacy to human rights.

“With our size comes a great deal of responsibility, and while we have always taken advice from experts on how to best keep our platforms safe, until now, we have made the final decisions about what should be allowed on our platforms and what should be removed. And these decisions often are not easy to make – most judgments do not have obvious, or uncontroversial, outcomes and yet many of them have significant implications for free expression.”

May The Fourth Be With Your Google Update

On May 4th, Google began rolling out its core update, and initial impressions are that it’s “big and broad”. It’s being referred to as “substantial”, and at the time of this report, it’s not even finished yet. Mordy Oberstein from RankRanger even referred to it as an “absolute monster”.

So what’s the skinny on changes? This was a global update not specific to any region, language, or category of web sites. It has apparently created some noticeable changes to the volume of organic traffic to some sites, while others have seen less dramatic effects.

After prior roll-outs, Google has offered advice to consider if you are being negatively impacted by the core change roll-out. That isn’t yet available for this one. Stay tuned!

Losses Won’t Put a Pin in Pinterest’s Ballooning Outlook

Q1 revenue? Up 35% year over year to $272 million.Global Monthly Active Users? Up 26% year over year to 367 million.Net losses? Waaahhh-wahhh to the tune of $141 million.That’s a 241% increase year over year. And earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITA) shows a loss of $53 million. But the news isn’t bursting with positive outlook in Pinterest’s Q1 2020 Report.

The company experienced tremendous growth in the last 12 months. While COVID19 has had some impact, much of the losses on the books are operational expenses, administrative, sales and marketing, and in research and development.

So while Q1’s losses look deflating, Pinterest’s outlook still appears to be rising. And with a growing base of users looking for creative ideas and consumer goods, now is the time for brands and marketers to take Pinterest up-up-and-away.